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Magic Kingdom
The Magic Kingdom is one of Walt Disney World's six parks and stands as the heart and soul of the resort. The park was the first to be opened and stands and the most visited place in the world. The layout of the kingdom is that of the central hub (Cinderella's Castle) surrounded by seven themed lands that are based around different Disney movies and characters; Main Street U.S.A, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Mickey's Toontown Fair, Tommorrowland and Liberty Square. Each land is uniquely themed is home to different characters who do their best to show guests a good time. Construction Although Walt Disney himself had been highly involved in planning The Florida Project, the Walt Disney Company began construction on Magic Kingdom and the entire resort in 1967 after his death. The Magic Kingdom park was built similarly to the existing Disneyland in California. The Florida park, however, was built in a larger area and improved upon Disneyland's design. There are several anecdotes relating to reasons for some of the features of Walt Disney World, and Magic Kingdom specifically. According to one story, Walt Disney once saw a Frontierland cowboy walking through Tomorrowland at Disneyland. He disliked how the cowboy intruded on the futuristic setting of Tomorrowland and wanted to avoid situations like this in the new park.Therefore, Magic Kingdom was built over a series of tunnels called utilidors, a blend of utility and corridor. These tunnels allow employees (aka cast members) to move through the park out of sight from guests, maintaining the illusion of the show. Because of Florida's high water table, the tunnels could not be put underground, so they were built at the existing grade. This means that the park is actually built on the second story, giving Magic Kingdom an elevation of 107 feet (33 m). The area around the utilidors was filled in with dirt removed from the Seven Seas Lagoon, which was being constructed at the same time. The utilidors were built in the initial construction and were not extended as the park expanded. The tunnels were only used in Magic Kingdom because of financial constraints, but they were meant to be employed in all subsequent Walt Disney World parks. Epcot's Future World and Pleasure Island each have a smaller network of utilidors. Opening Magic Kingdom opened as the first part of Walt Disney's planned Florida Project on October 1, 1971. It was the only theme park on the resort at the time and opened concurrently with two hotels on the property: Disney's Contemporary Resort and Disney's Polynesian Resort. The park opened with 23 attractions, three unique to the park and 20 copies of attractions at Disneyland. The Walt Disney Company promised to increase this number with more attractions like those in Disneyland as well as more unique ones. The attractions were split into six themed lands, five copies of those at Disneyland and the unique Liberty Square. While there is no individual dedication to Magic Kingdom Park, the dedication by Roy O. Disney for the entire Walt Disney World Resort was placed within its gates. Attractions The park contained twenty-three attractions on the day it opened, twenty of them copies of attractions at Disneyland. Today the park map lists forty-eight attractions (though several of these, like the Guest Information Board, probably shouldn't be included in the number) in seven themed "lands." Major attractions are listed below. The Walt Disney World Railroad runs along the perimeter of the park and makes stops at Main Street, Frontierland, and Mickey's Toontown Fair. Main Street, USA Upon entering the park, Main Street is the first thing guests see. This land is theme after Walt Disney's childhood home and brings a nostalgic feel to the kingdom. From inside, guests feel like they're in a turn-of-the-century, 1950's town. The land is lined with shops and is home to many enthusiastic citzens who welcome guests with open arms. The smell of freshely baked cookies often fills the air and the smooth jazz music entances guests as they take a stroll down memory lane. Adventureland * Swiss Family Treehouse, a large tree with steps and walkways leading high up around it * The Enchanted Tiki Room - The attraction re-opened on August 15, 2011 as Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and was reinstated as a slightly edited version of Disneyland's original show. * Jungle Cruise, a boat ride with a skipper who tells jokes to the passengers. * Pirates of the Caribbean, a dark ride on a boat through pirate scenes * The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, a Dumbo-type spinner ride on flying carpets Frontierland * The Frontierland Shooting Gallery, an arcade type area where you shoot at targets and the set "comes to life". * Splash Mountain, a log flume themed to Song of the South * Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a fairly tame steel roller coaster * Tom Sawyer Island, accessible by raft, on which are caves and a fort for kids to explore * Country Bear Jamboree, a show with Audio-Animatronic singing bears Liberty Square Similar to New Orleans Square at Disneyland, the smallest land in the park is based on a American Revolutionary town. The Magic Kingdom's Rivers of America hosts the Liberty Belle. * The Hall of Presidents, a show featuring an Audio-Animatronic version of every United States President * The Haunted Mansion, a dark ride through a haunted house * Liberty Square Riverboats, a colonial ride throught the Rivers of America Fantasyland * "it's a small world" is a dark ride through colorful stylized representations of many countries * Peter Pan's Flight, a dark ride in a pirate ship flying over London * Mickey's PhilharMagic, a 3-D movie experience * Prince Charming Regal Carrousel (the last word is spelled with two 'r's), the oldest ride in the park, a carousel built in 1917 * Dumbo the Flying Elephant, the prototypical Dumbo ride * Snow White's Scary Adventures, a dark ride through scenes from the movie (only scary for young children) * The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, a dark ride through scenes from the Winnie the Pooh stories * Mad Tea Party, a ride in spinning teacups * Mickey Mouse Revue, an Audio-Animatronic show experience in 1971 Storybook Circus A upcoming area of the Magic Kingdom. * The Great Goofini, a small steel roller coaster. * Dueling Dumbo,a flying veahicle ride. * Magic Kingdom Railroad,the train that circles around the Magic Kingdom. Tomorrowland * Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, a 'racetrack' with small gas-powered racecars * Space Mountain, which includes 2 indoor roller coasters in the dark * Astro Orbiter, a raised Dumbo-style ride in rocketships * Tomorrowland Transit Authority (originally the WEDway PeopleMover), a gentle people mover ride over Tomorrowland * Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, an Audio-Animatronic show which debuted at the 1964 New York World's Fair * Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, a dark ride with "laser guns" to shoot targets and score points * Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, an interactive show starring everyone's favorite monsters to power Monsteropolis * Stitch's Great Escape! in which Stitch escapes from a prisoner teleportation tube and wreaks comical chaos throughout the audience. Trivia In Cinderella's Golden Carrousel, Cinderella's own horse is the only one which has a golden bow on its tail. It's in the second rank in from the outside, in the line immediately before the Indian Chieftan horse. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is built in the former location of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, based on the 1949 Disney animated film The Wind in the Willows. Fans of the Mr. Toad ride organized a petition in an attempt to prevent it from being replaced, but were unsuccessful. However, the ride contains a picture of Mr. Toad presenting the Toad Hall deed to Owl (look to the left behind the car when you enter Owl's house), and one Mr. Toad car is on display inside the Exposition Hall on Main Street. Other noteworthy Magic Kingdom attractions which have been removed include "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (based on the film of the same name) and the "Skyway," for which stations can still be seen in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The "20,000 Leagues" lagoon was left visible for years after the attraction closed, but has recently been drained, filled with dirt, and planted with trees in preparation for a Winnie the Pooh themed character greeting area. "The Magic Kingdom" is also a nickname for the Disneyland theme park itself. This usage predates the Florida theme park, but Disneyland never officially bore this name. While Disneyland's official nickname is "The Happiest Place On Earth," the official nickname of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World is "The Most Magical Place On Earth." This led to the common use in Disneyana literature of the term Magic Kingdom-style, to describe the classic Disney park - with the castle, Main Street etc. Former Attractions/Shops * Safari Club (1971-1972): Similar to The Frontierland Shooting Hall. Was replaced with Col. Hathi's Safari Club, and later the Island Supply Co. * Westward Ho (1971-1973): Gift Shop. Was later replaced by The Country Bear Jamboree queue, the Bearly Country gift shop, and the Prairie Outpost & Supply shop. * Flight to the Moon (1971-1975): Show set in a theater themed like a rocket ship. Replaced by Mission to Mars. * The WDW Art Festival (1971-1975, 1977): Was an art "festival" located on East Center Street. * America the Beautiful (1971-1974, 1975-1979): Circle-Vision 360° movie, identical to the one at Disneyland. Replaced by another CircleVision show, Magic Carpet 'Round the World. * Keel Boat Hat Shoppe (1974/1975 - 1978): Soon became the Keel Boat Shoppe. * Caverna de los Piratas (1974 - 1980): Became Lafitte's Portrait Deck * Liberty Square Riverboat: Admiral Joe Fowler (1971-1980): Damadged in drydock during it's rehab. * Mickey Mouse Revue (1971-1980): replaced by Magic Journeys * Magic Carpet 'Round the World: Circle Vision 360 movie, replaced by American Journeys * If You Had Wings (1972-1987) / If You Could Fly (1987-1989): Omnimover ride, replaced by Delta Dreamflight * Mission to Mars (1975-1993): Replaced by ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter * Magic Journeys (1987-1993): 3D movie, replaced by Legend of the Lion King * American Journeys (1984-1994): Circle Vision 360 film, replaced by The Timekeeper * 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1971-1994) * Delta Dreamflight (1989-1996) / Dreamflight (1996) / Take Flight (1996-1998): Omnimover ride, replaced by Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin * Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (1971-1998): replaced by The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh * Skyway (1971-1999) * Legend of the Lion King (1994-2002): Replaced by Mickey's Philharmagic * ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (1995-2003): Replaced by Stitch's Great Escape! * The Timekeeper (1994-2006): Circle Vision 360 replaced by Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor External links * The official Walt Disney World and Magic Kingdom website (http://www.disneyworld.com) Category:Magic Kingdom Category:Walt Disney World Resort Category:Disney parks and attractions